Scientists find 30 new species in city of Los Angeles

March 26, 2015 6:54 PM

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The survey was conducted with the help of local residents who hosted insect traps in their backyards. Each trap was outfitted with a microclimate weather station that monitored localized conditions. Researchers periodically emptied the traps and analyzed the insects.

Over the course of two years, researchers sorted through more than 10,000 fly specimens, confirming the existence of 30 new species -- all of them from the genus Megaselia. Different genitalia were the main factor by which scientists identified possible new species, but DNA analysis was used to conf...